Almeida Stifles Horwich at UFC Fight Night; Tibau Controls Stephens

Almeida (10-3) cruised to a unanimous decision against the
accomplished Team Quest veteran at UFC Fight Night 18 on Wednesday
at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tenn. All three judges sided
with Almeida by matching 30-27 scores in a bout where the outcome
seemed almost inevitable.

A former middleweight King of Pancrase, Almeida dominated Horwich
with takedowns and top control, as he grounded him at will. The
Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt put Horwich on his back in every
round and threatened him with a guillotine choke in the first. The
one-time International Fight League champion spent much of his time
and energy scrambling back to his feet, only to be taken down again
by Almeida.

Horwich (22-12-1) has yet to taste victory inside the Octagon and
has dropped three of his past four bouts overall, including two
straight. Almeida has won eight of nine dating back to a November
2002 Pancrase appearance.

One of the world’s largest lightweights, the 25-year-old Tibau
(17-6) controlled Stephens and his thunderous hands with superior
wrestling and grappling and coasted to a unanimous verdict on the
scorecards. Two of the cage-side judges scored the bout 30-27 for
the American Top Team representative; a third scored it 29-28.

Tibau mounted Stephens (14-5) in the first round and nearly
submitted him with an arm-triangle choke in the second. The
high-octane Iowan, neutralized for much of the match, had his
moments in round three, including a pair of jumping knees from the
clinch. Still, he could not fully corral Tibau, who finished the
fight with another takedown and put an exclamation point on the
victory.

File Photo

Brock Larson made it
four in a row.

In welterweight action, former World Extreme Cagefighting title
challenger Brock Larson
made a brutish and triumphant return to the Octagon.

The rugged 31-year-old Minnesotan dragged Jesse
Sanders to the mat, transitioned to back mount and carved up
the Extreme Challenge veteran with strikes from behind. Battered
and bleeding, Sanders succumbed to a rear-naked choke 2:01 into the
match.

“It’s good to be back,” said Larson, who made his first UFC
appearance since he defeated Keita
Nakamura in December 2006. “I wanted to make a statement.
You’ll see more of me, I promise.”

Larson (25-2), a product of the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy, has
posted 13 wins in 14 fights. Seventeen of his 25 career victories
have come by submission.

Credeur (12-2) -- who threatened from his back for much of the
fight -- appeared to close the deal with an armbar in the first
period, but the match was allowed to continue. A former Ring of
Combat champion, the 27-year-old Catone (6-1) took down Credeur
often and even passed the superior grappler’s guard, but he made
little headway in terms of damage.

As Catone shot in for another takedown in the back half of round
two, Credeur capitalized, cinched the choke and posted his sixth
win in a row.

Elsewhere, heavy-handed veteran Jorge Rivera notched his first win
in nearly 15 months, as he pulled out a split decision against
Nissen
Osterneck. Scores were 29-28 from all three judges, two of them
favoring Rivera.

Rivera (16-7) seized control of the competitive bout during the
final 10 minutes and dropped Osterneck with a stiff right hand in
the second round. Though the 37-year-old failed to finish, the
knockdown marked a turning point in the action. Sporting a mouse
under his right eye, the Hawaiian-born Osterneck (5-2) fought
admirably in round three but could not do enough to sway the judges
and suffered his second defeat in as many appearances.

In another middleweight tilt, Rob Kimmons
made his play for the “Submission of the Night” bonus, as he left
Joe
Vedepo unconscious with a standing guillotine choke.

The two men set a frenetic pace, but Kimmons (22-4) caught Vedepo
on a takedown attempt and made him pay for his carelessness. He
locked in the choke on his exposed neck, flashed a smile and nodded
to his corner, signaling the end was near. Vedepo (7-3) went limp
1:54 into the opening period, as the 28-year-old Kimmons won for
the fifth time in six fights.

A two-time All-American wrestler and Pac-10 Conference champion at
Arizona State University, the unbeaten Simpson (5-0) weathered an
early barrage from McKenzie and took down the eccentric Californian
with ease. McKenzie (12-6) rose to a standing position but walked
into a buzzsaw, as Simpson throttled him with punches and forced
referee Mario Yamasaki to intervene 1:40 into the match.

Based out of the Arizona Combat Sports camp, Simpson has finished
four of his first five fights as a professional inside the first
round.

“I’m a one-fight-at-a-time guy,” Simpson said. “I’m just happy to
be here.”